In service oriented architecture (SOA), services are primarily abstractions for building business systems. In practical terms, the design, definition and implementation of the services becomes the most important aspect of designing, building and implementing SOA systems. This leads immediately to the issue of granularity.
Granularity is the degree to which systems contain separate components, or granules. Higher granularity implies more flexibility in customizing a system, as there are more, smaller components from which to choose. Therefore, the more components in a system, or the greater the granularity, the more flexible, modular and adaptable the system is.
Given the myriad of activities being performed in a business environment, it can be difficult to define what qualifies as a service. Yet, how services are designed, defined and implemented plays a critical role in the overall efficiency of SOA systems. Furthermore, in service delivery, this is all the more significant since identifying the correct boundaries for service elements impacts the entire service delivery business.
Currently, there are no methodologies available to systemically determine service boundaries. The present invention describes a methodology for describing atomic services and then utilizing them for service delivery.